JAMMU, Mar 2: The garbage dumps and big container-type community dustbins in all the 75 Wards of jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) have been reduced drastically during last some years while cleanliness in the city has improved in this period and behind all these positive developments there remained the hard work of about 3000 Sanitation Workers, most of whom still await regularization of their jobs in JMC
Sources informed that there are about 1556 permanent posts of Sanitation Workers in the Urban Local Body JMC of which 100 are still vacant.
“A total of about 3000 personnel including those from Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) are working in all the 75 Wards falling within JMC limits,” they maintained adding that apart from this, there are more than 300 garbage collecting autos which daily move from door-to-door to collect garbage from residential houses as well as from business outlets.
It is pertinent to mention here that after these autos were pressed into service, the garbage dumps in Jammu along with big-container type dustbins have become rare.
Rajat Massih, 20, a young Sanitation Worker engaged with JMC for the last three years through an NGO said after the deduction of Provident Fund, he receives total of Rs. 8000 per month as his salary, which he informed is paid timely.
“Barring some stray incidents, public behaviour with us mostly remains very good,” he further said adding: “From the concerned authorities as well as from the NGOs concerned, we are neither given some face mask nor hand gloves and even no rain coat or uniform has been given to us.”
Another such Sanitation Worker informed that he daily reaches his place of his work at 7 am and sweeps-cleans all the streets and drains till 12 noon.
“There is only one leave for us in the whole year and that is on December 25 when we celebrate Christmas while during some emergency we may also avail a leave without any cut from our salary,” he claimed.
Similar views were echoed by Ankit Mattoo, 36, who for the last 15 years is working with JMC through an NGO.
“I started working in JMC as a Sanitation Worker in the field but now I am working in the offices of JMC where my working hours remain from 10 am to 4 pm,” he said expressing concern over non-regularization of his services even after 15 years.
When contacted, Rinku Gill, president of JMC sanitation workers informed that while the authorities at the helm take care of their physical well being and organize timely medical camps for them but their demands regarding safety gears including hand gloves, face masks and a proper uniform still remains unfulfilled.
He informed that JMC authorities have also provided them accidental insurance.
“On the pretext of J&K being a Union Territory (UT) now, some 600 posts of sanitation workers sanctioned in the year 2018, have not been filled so far,” Gill said adding that the Sanitation Workers engaged through NGOs get a meager salary and the Minimum Wages Act exists nowhere for them in J&K despite the fact that J&K has been reorganized into a UT now.
He also demanded the benefits under SRO 43 for Sanitation Workers.
More sources informed that after the extension of JMC limits, more sanitation workers have been engaged by the Urban Local Body through NGOs.
“Involving Government employees for the same work would mean getting the same work done on three times the expenditure,” they said.
When contacted JMC Commissioner, Dr Devansh Yadav informed that they pay extra to private NGOs for providing face masks and hand gloves to the Sanitation Workers.
“It is a matter of enforcement as only the experienced Sanitation Workers become Sanitary Supervisors and they should ask the contractors concerned for masks and gloves,” he said.
Dr Yadav informed that earlier JMC used to provide uniforms but the Sanitation Workers complained of some problem while wearing such dresses during work after which it was stopped.
When asked that even the regularized Sanitation Workers do not use gloves and masks, he said that there is need to organize capacity building workshops for Sanitation Workers so that they may form a habit of using such safety gears knowing the importance of the same.
On regularization of Sanitation Workers, he said that of the 1600 vacancies few years back, only 50 are left now and that too because the applicants had submitted wrong birth certificates.
“Those applicants insisted that they were illiterate because of which there was a mistake in their applications and they also offered for medical examination to ascertain their exact ages,” the JMC Commissioner stated.
On income and expenditure of the JMC, he said that the Local Body only earns 20 per cent revenue of what it spends in a year.
“So, if we spend high, then we will have to demand grant-in aid from the Government for running the affairs of JMC and that will not be a sustainable model,” he continued adding: “My motive is that the people should pay sanitation fee using which we may engage more and more labour.”
Dr. Yadav said that income of JMC remains around Rs. 35 crore a year while the expenditure touches Rs 400 crore and it include labour wages, electricity bills, street lights bills etc.
“There is a dire need to increase sanitation fee and I appeal to the public of Jammu to pay sanitation fee timely. So far, only 50 per cent people are willing to pay Rs 100 as sanitation fee,” he said.
